The 20th century has seen the appearance of science and technology as fundamentals transforming life for everyone in our complex world. Within a century, life has changed on an incredible scale. Over the last fifty years, computers have updated manufacturing through automation and drastically altered communication systems. This paper provides an insight into the history of computers and their multiple uses. A general overview of the main landmarks in computing reveals that: it was during World War II that the first all-electronic digital computer was built. ‘Colossus’ (1945) was developed by British scientists working on cracking the codes used by the Nazis to pass military information.

Furthermore, ENIAC – a general-purpose machine, used to calculate the trajectory of bombs and shells, was developed in the US In 1946, leading US scientists (who designed ENIAC) set up the world’s first computer, UNIVAC, (Universal Automatic Computer). In 1965, came the first integrated circuits, e.g. IBM System 360, and, in 1979, the first IBM Personal Computer was launched. In 1990, Microsoft launched Windows 3 for PCs.

What is a computer, then? “It is an electronic device that receives instructions (programs) and carries them out through the performance of calculators based on numerical data or the manipulation of other forms of information.”

At home, the Personal Computer (PC) is part and parcel of our daily doings. Whether as an educational tool, for leisure (games) or business, the PC has been developed in a variety of designs. From the desktop size to the sophisticated lap-top and the even more sophisticated palm-top, miniaturization is the key word in computer development.

Global communication is another main perspective associated with computers. The Internet provides a means for any computer to communicate with another. The Internet is an expanded group of computer networks that share a set of protocols and address-space linking millions of people worldwide - and is growing very rapidly, (The US military, to end a reliance on central computers, first conceived the Internet). The worldwide web (WWW) is an internet-based service exploiting this ability to offer a global information service. It can support multi-media, giving access to papers with pictures, video clips, sound and text. It imparts links allowing us to access information from different computers by clicking on one’s screen.

The rapid development of telecommunications in the last thirty years has changed global communication and computers are present everywhere. In industry and commerce, automation plays a major role with the speeding up of production through machines operating on a 24-hour basis. In the art world - architecture, film animation, music and design, computer-art helps to create new products.

Computer-assisted learning is now at the heart of learning and teaching programs. Computer Axial Tomography (CAT) is used in medecine as sophisticated X-ray imaging. A 3D picture of an organ or tissue is built up and any irregularities analysed.

Computer graphics and simulations are other improvements associated with engineering, meteorology, science and representation of real-life simulations. Our era is definitely ruled by computers. The predicament is simple: How far will we go?

Pamela Arasen-Lilette</B>